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Wellcome Early-Career Awards
The Wellcome Early-Career Awards fund early-career researchers to design and deliver an innovative project advancing understanding in their field or developing methods or tools that could benefit health-related research. The award covers the applicant's salary plus up to £400,000 for research expenses, usually over 5 years. Applicants need a PhD (viva passed) or at least four years of equivalent research experience, and no more than three years of postdoctoral experience at submission. The scheme is rolling with no fixed deadline, and the administering organisation must be in the UK or an eligible low- or middle-income country in Africa, South Asia or South-East Asia (apart from mainland China).
| Amount / funding | Applicant's salary plus up to £400,000 for research expenses, usually over 5 years. |
|---|---|
| Deadline | Rolling — apply at any time; no fixed deadline. |
| Start date | Award start agreed with the administering organisation (rolling scheme; no fixed start date on the official page) |
| Level | Postdoc |
| Funding type | full |
| Field | 03 Medicine & Health Sciences |
About this scholarship
The Wellcome Early-Career Awards fund early-career researchers to design and deliver an innovative project advancing understanding in their field or developing methods or tools that could benefit health-related research. The award covers the applicant's salary plus up to £400,000 for research expenses, usually over 5 years. Applicants need a PhD (viva passed) or at least four years of equivalent research experience, and no more than three years of postdoctoral experience at submission. The scheme is rolling with no fixed deadline, and the administering organisation must be in the UK or an eligible low- or middle-income country in Africa, South Asia or South-East Asia (apart from mainland China).
Minimum requirements
PhD (viva passed) or at least four years of research experience equivalent to a PhD; no more than three years of postdoctoral experience at submission (with allowances); administering organisation in the UK or an eligible low- or middle-income country in Africa, South Asia or South-East Asia (apart from mainland China).
Application checklist
- Confirm a PhD (viva passed) or at least four years of research experience equivalent to a PhD
- Confirm no more than three years of postdoctoral experience at submission (allowances apply)
- Confirm the administering organisation is in the UK or an eligible low- or middle-income country in Africa, South Asia or South-East Asia (apart from mainland China)
- Design an innovative project that advances understanding in your field or develops methods/tools that could benefit health-related research
- Apply at any time — the scheme is rolling with no fixed deadline
Application tips
- The administering-organisation geography is a hard filter since the 29 October 2026 narrowing — confirm your host's eligibility before drafting.
- Rolling does not mean uncompetitive: the award funds a full salary plus up to £400,000, so the project design must be genuinely innovative.
- The three-year postdoctoral ceiling is measured at submission, so time your submission if you are near the boundary.
- This is a research award, not a taught scholarship — frame the application as a research programme, not a course of study.
Always verify deadline, amount and eligibility on the official page before applying. Values marked ESTIMATE are based on a previous cycle and are not confirmed for the current round.
Tags: wellcome, early-career, research award, health research